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POET works to protect us

POET works to protect us
Former OSU quarterback Bill Long and animal-rights activist Rob Russell planted themselves at OSU’s Vet School in the middle of September and swore off food until the university pulls the plug on a “scientifically unjustified and cruel experiment that will cause the suffering and death of defenseless animals,” says Russell.

This is the fifth in a series of protests scheduled by the animal-rights organization POET against Michael Podell’s FIV/methamphetamine research that, if allowed to continue, will infect, drug, and destroy 120 cats at OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

“Sure I’d rather be sitting down to a pre-game meal on this home game weekend” says 1969 OSU graduate Bill Long who played on both the football and baseball teams. “But knowing that my alma mater is behind this unnecessary killing is killing not only my appetite, but my long-standing school spirit and devotion.”

Chomsky says choose peace -- Radio Interview

Why do you think these attacks happened?

To answer the question we must first identify the perpetrators of the crimes. It is generally assumed, plausibly, that their origin is the Middle East region, and that the attacks probably trace back to the Osama Bin Laden network, a widespread and complex organization, doubtless inspired by Bin Laden but not necessarily acting under his control. Let us assume that this is true. Then to answer your question a sensible person would try to ascertain Bin Laden’s views, and the sentiments of the large reservoir of supporters he has throughout the region. About all of this, we have a great deal of information.

End U.S. support for apartheid Israel

Imagine your cousin shot in the eye, dead at the age of 22. Picture your parents, huddling in the pitch-dark house, fearful of gunshots outside. For those whose families and relatives live under Israeli occupation, like Nasri Elwawi and Jad Humeidan of Central Ohio, such nightmarish visions have become traumatic everyday realities. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, 636 Palestinians have been killed and 15,543 injured since September 29, 2000 (figures reported at midnight on September 8, 2001). Roughly a third of those killed are children 18 or under. Numbers alone are horrendous, but remember, also, that behind each death and injury there is the invisible anguish of countless Palestinians in Israel, the occupied territories, and diaspora — yes in Columbus, Ohio as well.

Alternative voices speak out for justice

There are so many people with important ideas, viewpoints and opinions about the events of September 11, 2001 that the Free Press could not print them all.

Here are some excerpts from the numerous articles, letters and writings we have received in the week following the terrorist attacks.

“Since the U.S. has become a world power, it has deviated from the path outlined by its founders. It was Thomas Jefferson who said: ‘No nation can behave without a decent respect for the opinion of mankind. (I quote from memory). When the U.S. delegation left the world conference [on racism] in Durban, in order to abort the debate about the evils of slavery and in order to court the Israeli right, Jefferson must have turned over in his grave.” – Uri Avnery, Israeli peace activist.

Siege at Rainbow Farm leaves two dead

Usually on Labor Day weekend, Grover T. (Tom) Crosslin and Rolland Rohm are putting in long hours on the Rainbow Farm end of the season “Hemp Festival” in Vandalia, Michigan. Not this year. During the Labor Day weekend, according to news accounts, Crosslin, the owner and operator of Rainbow Farm, and Rohm deliberately set fire to ten structures at the hemp haven. Law enforcement reports claim that Crosslin and Rohm allegedly fired at a news helicopter that was videotaping the fires and at a police surveillance plane. This allowed local law enforcement officials to call in the FBI under the guise of “weapons” charges.

On Labor Day, following a four-day stand-off with the FBI and state and local police authorities, Crosslin was shot and killed by an FBI agent. The next day Rohm was shot and killed as well.

Marijuana activists in Michigan and the Midwest are comparing this to Waco and Ruby Ridge. Increasingly throughout the region, militant activists infused with an angry populism, radical environmentalism and a leave-me-alone libertarianism have defiantly held rural hemp festivals once the exclusive domain of liberal college towns like Ann Arbor.

Marijuana decriminalization initiative

Columbus marijuana activists that were denied November ballot placement have not lost hope. They plan to file a mandamus court action requiring the City to order the Franklin County Board of Elections to conduct a full recount. If the court provides relief and when 1850 more signatures are validated the issue will be placed on the May ballot.

Petitioners and many others believe that a court action is necessary because the democratic process was hindered due to the Board of Elections preparing to move buildings during the counting procedure. Throughout the ten days, which is the amount of time granted by law, the Board was overloaded and had a skeleton staff due to the 4th of July holiday, prompting them to recruit warehouse workers to help with the count in order to meet the deadline. In addition, they procedurally always double check a petition counters work, but on this occasion there was no such effort.

Shift in thinking about medical marijuana creates Ohio Patient Network

The headlines tell it all: “The Campaign To Decriminalize Pot,” “Marijuana As Medicine Will Continue,” “Marijuana Decision Does Not Solve Issue,” “Ohio Group Writes Bill Proposal On Medicinal Marijuana,” “Marijuana Use Gets A Boost.” These summarize a few of the stories about marijuana that appeared in Ohio’s newspapers this year according to the Media Awareness Project (MAP) of DrugSense at http://www.mapinc.org.

Just three years ago, the headlines read: “Marijuana Harvest Brings Out The Authorities,” “Police, Marijuana-sniffing Dog Sweep Through Madison High,” “Deputies Arrest Man after Finding 5,000 Marijuana Plants,” and “Medical Marijuana Law Dumped.” What happened? Why has reporting focused on law enforcement shifted to reporting focused on medicine?

A strange thing happened on the way through the millennium. The media got it. A quiet revolution has occurred in the way Americans and others worldwide view this much-maligned plant.

Behind this shift lie facts like these, again from MAP:

Women and health care: Lawmakers still don't get it

As the nation recovers from the carnage of September 11, we might do well to refocus on the many Americans, including innocent women, who are daily falling sick and dying, not from terrorism, but from lack of health care. Lack of Health Insurance:

An August 2001 report from the mainstream Commonwealth Fund shows that American women are losing health coverage at an alarming rate. Some major findings:

Insurance rates of women are falling below that of men:

  • The numbers of uninsured women has grown 3 times faster than the number of men over the past 5 years. Nationally, the numbers of uninsured women is growing fast and could surpass numbers of men by 2005.
  • Low-income mothers represent 3 out of 5 low-income uninsured parents and one-quarter of uninsured women.

  • Women 55-65 are more than 20% more likely to be uninsured than men.

Lack of Access to Health Care Services

The Commonwealth Fund also reports that women have more trouble accessing care than men:

The lone voice of dissent

Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, California was the lone voice of conscience when she had the courage to stand up firmly against the resolution to authorize U.S. military action to respond to the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. The following is a text of her dissent.

Rep. Barbara Lee: “Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, one that is filled with sorrow for the families and loved ones who were killed and injured in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Only the most foolish or the most callous would not understand the grief that has gripped the American people and millions across the world.

This unspeakable attack on the United States has forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction. September 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States.

I know that this use-of-force resolution will pass although we all know that the

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